Data transmissions in a mobile communication system employing diversity and constellation rearrangement of a 16 QAM scheme

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to methods for transmitting and receiving a data bit stream in a communication system using 16-QAM constellations. Further, an apparatus for performing the methods is provided. To improve the bit-error rate performance of the communication using the 16-QAM constellations the invention suggests the use 16-QAM constellations with specially selected mapping rules together with a special constellation rearrangement for creating different versions of the 16-QAM constellations. Further, the data stream is transmitted according to a diversity scheme employing different versions of the 16-QAM constellations obtained adhering the mapping rules and rearrangement rules defined by the invention.

This is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 11/913,475filed Jun. 3, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,920,645, which is a nationalstage of PCT/EP2005/004891 filed May 4, 2005, the entire contents ofeach which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to methods for transmitting and receiving a databit stream in a communication system using a 16-QAM constellation anddiversity rearrangement of the 16-QAM constellation. Further, anapparatus for performing the methods is provided.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

16-RAM

16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) is a digital modulation schemewhich is commonly used for example in IMT 2000 based mobilecommunication systems, such as UMTS or COMA 2000. The 16 modulationsymbols are defined by distinct points in the complex signal space inwhich the 16-QAM constellation is commonly illustrated. Each of thesepoints represents one 16-QAM symbol.

For binary information transmission systems, four different bits may beused to determine one of the existing 16-QAM symbols. Therefore one16-QAM symbol consists (or can be represented by a word) of 4 bits, andis represented by a complex value in the complex plane. Generally thecomplex value of a modulation symbol can be represented by its cartesianinphase- and quadrature-components (I and Q components) relative to therespective I-axis and Q-axis in the complex plane. These axes alsodivide the complex plane in four quadrants. The representation of amodulation symbol by its real and imaginary part in the complex plane isequivalent to its representation by polar components, i.e. radius andangle.

For a better understanding of the invention, it is assumed here aspecific constellation of the 16-QAM symbols, where the signal pointswithin a quadrant of the complex plane are arranged such that they forma square of four points in two orthogonal directions of the signalspace. Consequently such a mapping is commonly known as square 16-QAM orlattice 16-QAM. Two examples are given in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

The Invention assumes that the 16-QAM symbols are arranged using asquare 16-QAM mapping. It should be apparent to the skilled person thatfor each rotated 16-QAM constellation as for example shown in FIG. 2,the axes of the complex plane may be chosen such that the rotated 16-QAMconstellation can be viewed as in FIG. 1.

Commonly, the so-called Gray mapping is used to associate the 16modulation symbols in a 16-QAM constellation with a quadruple of bitswhich is mapped to the respective symbol. According to this Gray mappingscheme, adjacent modulation symbols in the horizontal or verticaldirection differ in one bit only.

16-QAM Subset Partitioning

Generally the set of symbols within a constellation may be partitionedinto subsets to define the symbol regions that correspond to the logicalvalue of a certain bit. Since for a 16-QAM constellation 4 bits arerelevant, there are four subsets, one for each bit. Each subset may befurther divided into two symbol regions that correspond to the twological values of the respective bit in the corresponding subset.

Obviously, there exist various subset partitions. However some of theseare equivalent for example from the viewpoint of error rate performance.Still there exist certain partitioning schemes that are more widely usedthan others. Four examples of subset partitioning schemes are given forexample in Chindapol, A.; Ritcey, J. A., “Design, analysis, andperformance evaluation for BICM-ID with square QAM constellations inRayleigh fading channels”, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas inCommunications, Volume: 19, Issue: 5, May 2001, Pages: 944-957 and alsoin FIG. 11 for so-called Gray mapping.

Constellation Rearrangement for 16-QAM Gray Mapping

For Gray mapping, it has been shown that a constellation rearrangementapproach improves the performance if two or more versions of the sameword are transmitted. The constellation rearrangement scheme for Graymapping is based on different levels of reliability for the bits,depending on the position of the selected 16-QAM symbols within theconstellation. Consequently the rearrangement rules focus on changingthe location of the rearranged version of the 16-QAM symbol to achievean averaging effect of the levels of reliability. For details onconstellation rearrangement for 16-QAM Gray mapping, it is referred tothe granted patent EP 1,293,059 B1 or the publication WO 2004/036817 A1of the applicant.

Transmit Diversity Schemes

There exist several well known transmit diversity techniques. The term“transmit diversity” as used in this document describes the transmissionof one or several versions relating to identical data on several (atleast two) diversity branches. For example the following schemes areconsidered as transmit diversity (see e.g. J. D. Gibson, “The MobileCommunications Handbook”, IEEE Press, 1996, Chapter 12.2):

-   -   Site Diversity: The transmitted signal originates from different        sites, e.g. different base stations in a cellular environment.    -   Antenna Diversity: The transmitted signal originates from        different antennas, e.g. different antennas of a multi antenna        base station.    -   Polarization Diversity: The transmitted signal is mapped onto        different polarizations.    -   Frequency Diversity: The transmitted signal is mapped e.g. on        different carrier frequencies or on different frequency hopping        sequences.    -   Time Diversity: The transmitted signal is e.g. mapped on        different interleaving sequences. This includes ARQ schemes that        re-transmit data upon request.    -   Code Diversity: The transmitted signal is mapped on different        codes in e.g. a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) system.

In the above referenced application and patent of the applicantrespectively, it has been shown that the use of constellationrearrangement schemes together with transmit diversity may significantlyimprove the bit-error rate of a transmitted signal in mobilecommunication environments. It is shown to be optimum considering fourdifferent constellations for 16-QAM Gray mapping. Nevertheless, there isstill a demand for an optimization of modulation and coding schemes usedfor communications, in particular in a mobile communication environment,to reduce the number of required constellations or to improve theachieved error performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a modulation andcoding scheme with an improved bit-error rate compared to systems asdescribed in the above referenced application and patent of theapplicant. A further object of the invention to provide a modulation andcoding scheme requiring fewer constellations compared to systems asdescribed in the above referenced application and patent of theapplicant.

The object is solved by the subject matters of the independent claims.Advantageous embodiments are subject matter to the dependent claims.

One key aspect of the invention is to use a 16-QAM constellation withdefined mapping rules together with a diversity scheme and a definedconstellation rearrangement. The mapping rules define which of sixteenquadruples of bits (also referred to data words) is mapped to whichmodulation symbol (also referred to as data symbol) of the 16-QAMconstellation. The 16 modulation symbols may for example be representedin four rows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane.

For example, the mapping rules may be formulated as follows:

-   a) a first one of the four data bits representing a modulation    symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM    constellation based on its logical value, each of the two contiguous    symbol regions being formed by two rows adjacent to each other-   b) a second one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of    the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the two    contiguous symbol regions being formed by two columns adjacent to    each other-   c) a third one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions    of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the    two non-contiguous symbol regions being formed by two rows not    adjacent to each other-   d) a fourth one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions    of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the    two non-contiguous symbol regions being formed by two columns not    adjacent to each other

It is important to notice, that these mapping rules do not require thatfor example the most significant bit of a quadruple of bits representinga modulation symbol selects a specific one the regions defined in therules above according to its logical value. Which bit of the quadrupleselects which of the four symbol regions defined within four abovementioned mapping rules does not have an impact on the performance ofthe modulation and coding scheme proposed by the invention.

An alternative definition of the mapping rules, equivalent to the rulesa), b), c) and d) above, may be formulated as follows. It is assumedthat the axes of the complex plane in which the square 16-QAMconstellation can be represented are chosen as shown in FIG. 1. The axesdivide the complex signal space in four quadrants. Assuming thisrepresentation of the 16-QAM constellation, the mapping rules of the QAMconstellation fulfill the following criteria:

-   a′) the Hamming distance between modulation symbols within a    quadrant having the minimum Euclidian distance to each other is one-   b′) the Hamming distance between modulation symbols of adjacent    quadrants having the minimum Euclidian distance to each other is two    and-   c′) the modulation symbols being antipodal to each other with    respect to the origin of the complex coordinate plane have a Hamming    distance of four

Moreover, the following additional rules may be taken into account:

-   d′) the modulation symbols within a quadrant having an Euclidian    distance larger than the minimum Euclidian distance or equal to the    square root of two times the minimum Euclidian distance to each    other within the quadrant have a Hamming distance of two-   e′) the Hamming distance between modulation symbols having an    Euclidian distance larger than the minimum Euclidian distance or    equal to the square root of two times the minimum Euclidian distance    to each other of and being located in adjacent quadrants is three

In addition to these alternative but equivalent mapping rules, anotheraspect of the invention is to employ transmit diversity scheme togetherwith a 16-QAM constellation rearrangement. Each quadruple of bits istransmitted two or more times, wherein differently arranged versions of16-QAM constellations obeying the mapping rules (versions) above areused for transmitting the quadruple of bits according to the transmitdiversity scheme used. The versions of the 16-QAM constellation arerearranged based on the following diversity rearrangement rules:

-   1. A modulation symbol that has two nearest neighbors in the first    version is rearranged such that it has four nearest neighbors in the    second version-   2. A modulation symbol of the 16-QAM constellation that has three    nearest neighbors in the first version is rearranged such that it    has three nearest neighbors in the second version-   3. A modulation symbol of the 16-QAM constellation that has four    nearest neighbors in the first version is rearranged such that it    has two nearest neighbors in the second version

More specifically, these rearrangement rules may be alternativelydefined as follows:

-   1. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 1 and a    squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first version have a squared    Euclidean distance of 16D in the second version, and vice versa-   2. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 2    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first version have        a squared Euclidean distance of 38D in the second version, and        vice versa    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version have        a squared Euclidean distance of 32D in the second version, and        vice versa    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the second version-   3. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 3    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version have        a squared Euclidean distance of 52D in the second version, and        vice versa    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the second version,        and vice versa-   4. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 4    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version have        a squared Euclidean distance of 72D in the second version, and        vice versa    -   and a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the second version

According to a first exemplary embodiment of the invention a method fortransmitting a data bit stream in a communication system using a firstand a second 16-QAM constellation each having 16 modulation symbols thatcan be represented in four rows and four columns in a complex coordinateplane is provided. According to this embodiment, each modulation symbolof the 16-QAM constellations can be represented by a combination of fourdata bits. Further, the two constellations obey the mapping rules asspecified above (see a) to d)).

The method according to this embodiment may thereby comprise the step offorming a sequence of data words from the data bit stream. Each of thedata words is then mapped to a modulation symbol of a first 16-QAMconstellation to obtain a first diversity arrangement version obeyingthe mapping rules, and each of the data words is further mapped to amodulation symbol of a second 16-QAM constellation to obtain a seconddiversity arrangement version obeying the mapping rules.

The first and second 16-QAM constellation according to this embodimentof the invention is obtained additionally obeying the followingrearrangement rules. A modulation symbol of the first 16-QAMconstellation having two nearest neighbors is rearranged such that ithas four nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation. Further,a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having threenearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has three nearest neighborsin the second 16-QAM constellation. Moreover, a modulation symbol of thefirst 16-QAM constellation having four nearest neighbors is rearrangedsuch that it has two nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAMconstellation.

The modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation and themodulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation are transmittedaccording to a transmit diversity scheme.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the second 16-QAMconstellation is obtained by:

-   -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        one and a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 16D in the second 16-QAM constellation, and vice        versa,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        two and a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 36D in the second 16-QAM constellation, and vice        versa,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        two and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 32D in the second 16-QAM constellation, and vice        versa,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        two and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 20D in the second 16-QAM constellation,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        three and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 52D in the second 16-QAM constellation, and vice        versa,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        three and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the first        16-QAM constellation to modulation symbols having a squared        Euclidean distance of 40D in the second 16-QAM constellation,        and vice versa,    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        four and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 72D in the second 16-QAM constellation, and vice        versa, and    -   rearranging two modulation symbols having a Hamming distance of        four and a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the first 16-QAM        constellation to modulation symbols having a squared Euclidean        distance of 40D in the second 16-QAM constellation,        as has been already outlined previously.

The complex plane in which the 16-QAM symbols may be representedcomprises four quadrants and, according to a further embodiment of theinvention, the mapping rules obeyed by the first and second 16-QAMconstellation fulfill the following criteria:

-   -   the Hamming distance between modulation symbols within a        quadrant having the minimum squared Euclidian distance to each        other is one,    -   the Hamming distance between modulation symbols of adjacent        quadrants having the minimum squared Euclidian distance to each        other is two and    -   wherein modulation symbols being antipodal to each other with        respect to the origin of the complex coordinate plane have a        Hamming distance of four.

In a variation of this embodiment, the modulation symbols within aquadrant having a squared Euclidian distance larger than the minimumsquared Euclidian distance or equal to the square root of two times theminimum squared Euclidian distance to each other within the quadranthave a Hamming distance of two.

Moreover, according to another variation of the embodiment, the Hammingdistance between modulation symbols having a squared Euclidian distancelarger than the minimum squared Euclidian distance or equal to thesquare root of two times the minimum squared Euclidian distance to eachother of and being located in adjacent quadrants is three.

In another embodiment of the invention, the data bit stream may beencoded by an encoder prior to forming the data words.

According to one further embodiment, a diversity scheme is employed fordata transmission, according to which the modulation symbol mapped tothe first 16-QAM constellation and the modulation symbol mapped to thesecond 16-QAM constellation are transmitted in parallel to each other.

Another alternative diversity scheme that can be employed foresees thatthe modulation symbol mapped to the first 16-QAM constellation and themodulation symbol mapped to the second 16-QAM constellation aretransmitted at different time instances.

Further, the present invention according to another embodiment providesa method for receiving a data bit stream in a communication system. Thedata bit stream is transmission data having been transmitted by atransmitting apparatus using a transmit diversity scheme and having beenmodulated by the transmitting apparatus using a first and a second16-QAM constellation. Each of these two constellations has 16 modulationsymbols that can be represented in four rows and four columns in acomplex coordinate plane. Moreover, each modulation symbol of the firstand second 16-QAM constellation can be selected by a combination of fourdata bits. The two 16-QAM constellations each obey the mapping rules asspecified above (see a) to d)).

According to this embodiment of the invention, a transmission signalcomprising a data word of the data bit stream that has been transmittedby the transmitting apparatus using the first 16-QAM constellation isreceived at a receiving apparatus. Further, another transmission signalcomprising the data word of the data bit stream and having beentransmitted using the second 16-QAM constellation is also received.

Next, the transmission signals are demodulated by detecting modulationsymbols represented by data words of four data bits using the first16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellation respectively.Thereby, each data bit of a received modulation symbol is associatedwith a metric indicating the probability of the logical value of therespective bit of the received modulation symbol or indicating thelogical value of the respective bit of the received modulation symbol.

Next, each data bit of the received modulation symbols that has beenmapped by the transmitting apparatus to the first 16-QAM constellationis associated to a data bit of the received modulation symbols that hasbeen mapped by the transmitting apparatus to the second 16-QAMconstellation.

Further, each data bit having been mapped the first 16-QAM constellationis combined with its associated data bit having been mapped to thesecond 16-QAM constellation based on the metric of the respective databit and the metric of the associated data bit to reconstruct the databit stream.

In this embodiment of the invention, the association of data bits withinthe received modulation symbols is based on the following associationrules:

-   -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having two nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having four        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having three nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having        three nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having four nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having two        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to the use of the differentembodiments of the transmission method described above in a transmittingapparatus. A transmitting apparatus for transmitting a data bit streamin a communication system using a first and a second 16-QAMconstellation is provided. Each of the two constellations has 16modulation symbols that can be represented in four rows and four columnsin a complex coordinate plane and obey the mapping rules definedpreviously (see a) to d) above).

Transmitting apparatus comprises a processing means, e.g. a processor,DSP, or specialized hardware-component, for forming a sequence of datawords from the data bit stream. The data stream may for example beprovided from a speech coder, an software application, or any othersource that desires to transmit the data bit stream to a receivingapparatus.

Further, the transmitting apparatus comprises a symbol mapper formapping each data word to a modulation symbol of a first 16-QAMconstellation to obtain a first diversity arrangement version obeyingthe mapping rules, and for mapping each data word to a modulation symbolof a second 16-QAM constellation to obtain a second diversityarrangement version obeying the mapping rules. Thereby, a constellationrearrangement means, which may or may not be equivalent to theprocessing means mentioned above, in order to allow the transmittingapparatus obtaining the first and second 16-QAM constellation by obeyingthe following rearrangement rules:

-   -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having two        nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has four nearest        neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having        three nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has three        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation.    -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having        four nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has two        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation

Moreover, the transmitting apparatus may comprise a transmitter fortransmitting the modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation andthe modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation according to atransmit diversity scheme.

Another embodiment of the invention provides transmitting apparatuscomprising means adapted to perform the steps of the transmission methodaccording to one of the embodiments and variations thereof describedabove.

A further embodiment of the invention relates to the use of thereception method outlined above. A receiving apparatus for receiving adata bit stream in a communication system is provided, wherein the databit stream has been transmitted by a transmitting apparatus usingtransmit diversity. The data bit stream has been modulated by thetransmitting apparatus using a first and a second 16-QAM constellation.The first and the second 16-QAM constellation can be represented in fourrows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane and each of theirmodulation symbols can be represented by a combination of four databits. The two 16-QAM constellations each obey the mapping rules asspecified previously in a) to d).

The receiving apparatus according to this embodiment may comprise areceiver for receiving a transmission signal comprising a data word ofthe data bit stream having been transmitted using the first 16-QAMconstellation, and for receiving a transmission signal comprising thedata word of the data bit stream having been transmitted using thesecond 16-QAM constellation.

Further the receiving apparatus may comprise a demodulator fordemodulating the transmission signal by detecting modulation symbolsrepresented by data words of four data bits using the first 16-QAMconstellation and the second 16-QAM constellation respectively. Whendemodulating, each data bit of a received modulation symbol isassociated with a metric indicating the probability of the logical valueof the respective bit of the received modulation symbol or indicatingthe logical value of the respective bit of the received modulationsymbol.

Further, the apparatus may comprise a data bit stream reconstructionmeans, for example a processor, DSP or any other kind of suitablehardware and/or software, for associating each data bit of the receivedmodulation symbols that has been mapped by the transmitting apparatus tothe first 16-QAM constellation to a data bit of the received modulationsymbols that has been mapped by the transmitting apparatus to the second16-QAM constellation, and for combining each data bit having been mappedthe first 16-QAM constellation with its associated data bit having beenmapped to the second 16-QAM constellation based on the metric of therespective data bit and the metric of the associated data bit toreconstruct the data bit stream.

The data bit stream reconstruction means is further adapted to base theassociation of data bits within the received modulation symbols on thefollowing association rules:

-   -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having two nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having four        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having three nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having        three nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having four nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having two        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation.

Moreover, in another embodiment of the invention, the receivingapparatus may comprise further components and means for operationaccording to one of the more specific coding and modulation schemesproposed by the invention.

It is also recognized that the invention according to the variousembodiments and variations thereof may be implemented in software and/orhardware. Therefore, another embodiment of the invention relates to acomputer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by aprocessor of a transmitting apparatus, cause the transmitting apparatusto transmit a data bit stream in a communication system using a firstand a second 16-QAM constellation. Each of the constellations has 16modulation symbols that can be represented in four rows and four columnsin a complex coordinate plane. Each modulation symbol of the 16-QAMconstellations can be represented by a combination of four data bits.The first and second 16-QAM constellation each obey the mapping rulesdefined by a) through d) above.

The instructions cause the transmitting apparatus to transmit a data bitstream by forming a sequence of data words from the data bit stream,mapping each data word to a modulation symbol of a first 16-QAMconstellation to obtain a first diversity arrangement version obeyingthe mapping rules, and mapping each data word to a modulation symbol ofa second 16-QAM constellation to obtain a second diversity arrangementversion obeying the mapping rules. The first and second 16-QAMconstellation is obtained additionally obeying the followingrearrangement rules:

-   -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having two        nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has four nearest        neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having        three nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has three        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation.    -   a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM constellation having        four nearest neighbors is rearranged such that it has two        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation

Moreover, the instructions when executed by the processor cause thetransmitting apparatus to transmit the modulation symbol of the first16-QAM constellation and the modulation symbol of the second 16-QAMconstellation according to a transmit diversity scheme.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a computer readablemedium storing instruction that, when executed by the processor of thetransmitting apparatus, cause the transmitting apparatus to perform thesteps of the transmission method according to one of the variousembodiments and variations thereof above.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a computer readablemedium storing instruction that, when executed by a transmittingapparatus, cause the transmitting apparatus to receive a data bit streamin a communication system. The data bit stream has been transmitted by atransmitting apparatus using transmit diversity and has been modulatedby the transmitting apparatus using a first and a second 16-QAMconstellation each having 16 modulation symbols. As outlined previouslythe first and the second 16-QAM constellation may be represented in fourrows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane, and each modulationsymbol of the first and second 16-QAM constellation may be representedby a combination of four data bits. Further, the 16-QAM constellationseach obey the mapping rules defined in a) to d) above.

The instruction cause the receiving apparatus to receive the data bitstream by receiving a transmission signal comprising a data word of thedata bit stream having been transmitted using the first 16-QAMconstellation, receiving a transmission signal comprising the data wordof the data bit stream having been transmitted using the second 16-QAMconstellation, demodulating the transmission signal by detectingmodulation symbols represented by data words of four data bits using thefirst 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellationrespectively, thereby associating each data bit of a received modulationsymbol with a metric indicating the probability of the logical value ofthe respective bit of the received modulation symbol or indicating thelogical value of the respective bit of the received modulation symbol,associating each data bit of the received modulation symbols that hasbeen mapped by the transmitting apparatus to the first 16-QAMconstellation to a data bit of the received modulation symbols that hasbeen mapped by the transmitting apparatus to the second 16-QAMconstellation, and combining each data bit having been mapped the first16-QAM constellation with its associated data bit having been mapped tothe second 16-QAM constellation based on the metric of the respectivedata bit and the metric of the associated data bit to reconstruct thedata bit stream, wherein the association of data bits within thereceived modulation symbols is based on the following association rules:

-   -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having two nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having four        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having three nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having        three nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation    -   each data bit of a modulation symbol of the first 16-QAM        constellation having four nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM        constellation is associated to the respective data bit in a        modulation symbol of the second 16-QAM constellation having two        nearest neighbors in the second 16-QAM constellation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the following the present invention is described in more detail inreference to the attached figures and drawings. Similar or correspondingdetails in the figures are marked with the same reference numerals.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two 16-QAM symbol constellations with a squaremapping,

FIG. 3 shows a representation of the partitioning of constellationpoints for even and odd Hamming weight words in the complex signalspace,

FIG. 4 shows the nearest neighbour properties of the symbols within asquare 16-QAM constellation,

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the occurrence of Hamming and squared Euclideandistances between constellation symbols in one dimension of a 16-QAMconstellation according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIGS. 7 and 8 show two examples of mapping the words onto constellationpoints employing the AICO mapping principle according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 9 to 12 show exemplary regional mappings of the four constituentbits (data word) to their respective symbols in a square 16-QAMconstellation using AICO mapping according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe invention,

FIG. 13 to 16 show the regional mappings of the four constituent bits(data word) to their symbols in a square 16-QAM constellation using Graymapping,

FIG. 17 shows an exemplary rearrangement relation between 16-QAMconstellation symbols in a first and second version using abidirectional rearrangement pattern according to one embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 18 shows the rearrangement relation between 16-QAM constellationsymbols in a first and second version using a unidirectionalrearrangement pattern according to another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 19 shows an example of a 16-QAM constellation with AICO mappinghaving been rearranged according to a rearrangement pattern according toan embodiment of the invention given in FIG. 17 and being a rearrangedversion of the 16-QAM constellation with AICO mapping shown in FIG. 7,

FIG. 20 shows an example of a 16-QAM constellation with AICO mappinghaving been rearranged according to a rearrangement pattern according toan embodiment of the invention given in FIG. 17 and being a rearrangedversion of the 16-QAM constellation with AICO mapping shown in FIG. 8,

FIG. 21 shows the Monte Carlo simulation result in AWGN for Gray andAICO 16-QAM mapping for an encoded transmission using one original andone rearranged mapping version,

FIG. 22 shows an exemplary block diagram of a transmission apparatusstructure for transmission antenna diversity employing two branchesaccording to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 23 to 30 show the eight rearrangement relations fulfilling thespecified rearrangement rules according to an embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 31 shows an exemplary transmitter and receiver block diagramaccording to another embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 32 shows an exemplary demodulation and data stream reconstructionprocess according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following paragraphs will describe various embodiments of thepresent invention. For exemplary purposes only, most of the embodimentsare outlined independent from their implementation in a mobileenvironment.

Also the detailed explanations given in the Technical Background sectionabove are merely intended to better understand the exemplary embodimentsdescribed in the following and should not be understood as limiting thepresent invention to the described specific implementations of processesand functions in the mobile communication network.

One aspect of the invention is the definition of mapping rules of the16-QAM constellation. For a better understanding of the furtherelaboration on the properties of the new mapping—to which will bereferred to as “AICO mapping” in this document—, the definitions ofseveral terms frequently used in the following are provided first.

The Hamming weight of a symbol composed of binary elements 0 and 1(alternatively denoted −1 and 1) is the number of non-zero (i.e. 1)elements within a word composed of binary elements. Consequently for any4-bit word that is mapped onto a 16-QAM symbol the Hamming weight can bean integer value of 0 (i.e. for the word “0000”), of 1 (e.g. for theword “0010”), of 2 (e.g. for the word “1010”), of 3 (e.g. for the word“1110”), or of 4 (i.e. for the word “1111”). An even Hamming weightvalue is also denoted an “even Hamming weight parity”, an odd Hammingweight value is denoted an “odd Hamming weight parity”.

The Hamming distance between two symbols composed of one or more binarydigits is the number of digits in which the position-wise comparison ofthe digit value is different. Consequently the words “0000” and “1111”have a Hamming distance of 4, since all four digits have differentvalues. The words “1000” and “0010” have a Hamming distance of two,since the first and third digit from the left have different values.

The proposed AICO mapping fulfills the following properties that areexplained with reference to FIG. 3:

-   a″) All words that have a first Hamming weight parity are    unambiguously mapped either onto the dashed or the white modulation    symbols in FIG. 3,-   b″) All words that have a second Hamming weight parity are    unambiguously mapped either onto the dashed or the white modulation    symbols in FIG. 3.-   c″) The above two properties are complementary to each other, i.e.    if the even Hamming weight words are mapped onto the dashed    modulation symbols, then the odd Hamming weight words are mapped    onto the white modulation symbols.-   d″) Rotation of a first constellation symbol by 180 degrees shall    result in a second constellation symbol that conveys a second word    that is the binary complement of the first word that is conveyed by    the first constellation symbol.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, each symbol in a 16-QAM constellation has two,three or four nearest neighbor symbols. Therefore the first twoproperties above may be reformulated as follows:

-   a′″) All words that have a first Hamming weight parity are    unambiguously mapped either onto modulation symbols with two nearest    neighbors or with four nearest neighbors.-   b′″) All words that have a second Hamming weight parity are    unambiguously mapped onto modulation symbols with three nearest    neighbors.

A noteworthy consequence of these properties is that the Gray principlefor closest neighboring symbols is violated in some cases. Therefore,this mapping proposed by the Invention may also be referred to as anon-Gray mapping. The last property of the AICO mapping rules abovemeans that antipodal constellation symbols carry words that are binaryinverted. Therefore this mapping is referred to as Antipodal InvertedConstellation Mapping, or AICO mapping in this document. A consequenceof the non-Gray characteristic lathe difference of symbol regions whichspecific bits select.

FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 show an exemplary correspondence of the individualbits of a data word to symbol regions in the representation of the16-QAM constellation in the complex plane according to an embodiment ofthe invention; i.e. the selection of one of the respective symbolregions based on the logical value of a respective bit in the data word.FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 thereby visualize, how an individual bit of aquadruple of data bits mapped to a corresponding modulation symbolselects one of the different symbol regions based on its logical value.

Within FIG. 9 to FIG. 12, S_(i) ^(j) denotes a symbol region, where j isthe index denoting data bit number 1, 2, 3, or 4 of a quadruple of databits to be mapped, and i denotes the logical bit value, either b or itsinverse b. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in this generalrepresentation the actual logical bit value (0 or 1, alternatively −1and 1) or bit position within the data word is of no relevance.

In FIG. 9 an exemplary correspondence of a first data bit of thequadruple of bits to one of two vertically contiguous symbol regionsS_(b) ¹ and S _(b) ¹ is shown. Based on the logical value b or b of thedata bit one of the two symbol regions is selected. It should be notedthat there exist two contiguous symbol regions each for two bits S_(b) ¹and S _(b) ¹. Accordingly, FIG. 10 illustrates how a second data bit ofthe quadruple of bits is mapped to one of two horizontally contiguoussymbol regions S_(b) ² and S _(b) ². Hence, two bits of the quadruple ofbits (data word) are selecting contiguous symbol regions in therepresentation of the 16-CAM constellation in the complex plane.

Further, FIG. 11 shows an exemplary selection of a third data bit of thequadruple of bits of one of two vertically non-contiguous symbol regionsS_(b) ³ and S _(b) ³ and FIG. 12 shows an exemplary selection of a datafourth bit of the quadruple of bits of one of two horizontallynon-contiguous symbol regions S_(b) ⁴ and S _(b) ⁴. The remaining twobits of the quadruple of bits (data word) are thus selectingnon-contiguous symbol regions in the representation of the 16-CLAMconstellation in the complex plane.

It should be noted that in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 it is not required that the“first data bit” selecting one of the two contiguous symbol regionsS_(b) ¹ and S _(b) ¹ in FIG. 11 is equivalent to the most significantbit of the data word. Likewise the “second, third and fourth data bit”do not necessarily have to correspond to the second, third or fourth bitof the data word, respectively. Similarly, the exemplary selection ofthe symbol regions in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 may also not be construed as tobe limited to the two most significant bits of the data word selecting arespective one of the contiguous symbol regions illustrated in FIG. 9and FIG. 10, while the two least significant bits of the data wordselect a respective one of the two non-contiguous symbol regions shownin FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, though this implementation is certainlypossible.

To understand the difference of this proposed AICO mapping scheme to aconventional Gray mapping scheme, the equivalent corresponding symbolregions for a Gray approach are given in FIG. 13 to FIG. 16. It isrecognized from FIG. 13 to FIG. 16 that for two out of the four bits ofa data word there is no difference in the symbol regions between theGray and AICO mappings. However for the two remaining bits the symbolregions are different. Depending on the logical bit value, either amodulation symbol from a contiguous or non-contiguous region is used inGray mapping, but in AICO mapping always a modulation symbol from twonon-contiguous regions is used.

In Chindapol et al., “Design, analysis, and performance evaluation forBICM-ID with square CAM constellations in Rayleigh fading channels”discussed previously, Gray and other mappings, including theirrespective region mappings are presented. It may be noted that theconstellations presented in the article of Chindapol et. al are intendedfor use in an iterative decoding scheme presented in the article. Itshould be noted that the invention does not require an iterativestructure at the receiver and therefore allows the use of simplehardware in transmitter and receiver.

As can be seen in from FIG. 9 to FIG. 12, the modulation symbols arearranged in 4 columns of four modulation symbols each, when consideringa vertical separation the modulation symbols, and in four rows ofmodulation symbols each, when considering a horizontal separation themodulation symbols. Based on this exemplary illustration of the 16-QAMconstellation shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12, the mapping outlined in a″) tod″) above may alternatively be formulated as:

-   a) a first one of the four data bits representing a modulation    symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM    constellation based on its logical value, each of the two contiguous    symbol regions being formed by two rows adjacent to each other-   b) a second one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of    the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the two    contiguous symbol regions being formed by two columns adjacent to    each other-   c) a third one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions    of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the    two non-contiguous symbol regions being formed by two rows not    adjacent to each other-   d) a fourth one of the four data bits representing the respective    modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions    of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the    two non-contiguous symbol regions being formed by two columns not    adjacent to each other

As has been briefly explained above, a transmit diversity structure forGray mapping e.g. in time domain (ARQ, HARQ) has benefits, if the atleast second version of the 16-QAM constellation is rearranged in thesignal space with respect to the first version for diversitytransmission. Another main aspect of the invention is a definition ofconstellation rearrangement rules for use in transmit diversityscenarios with the above specified AICO mapping.

As has been mentioned earlier, each point in a 16-QAM constellation haseither two, three, or four nearest neighbour points (see FIG.4—exemplified for the symbols in the northeast quadrant by the linesconnecting the symbols).

In the following, d denotes the minimum Euclidian distance between amodulation symbol in the 16-QAM constellation and one of the axesdenoting the inphase and the quadrature components of the modulationsymbols, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Accordingly, D denotes the squaredminimum Euclidian distance, i.e. d²=D. Consequently, the minimum squaredEuclidian distance between two modulation symbols is (2d)² or 4D. If itis assumed that the first constellation version adheres to thedefinitions of AICO mapping above, the following properties with respectto the involved Hamming distances and (squared) Euclidean distances maybe observed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the Hamming distances and squared Euclidean distancesregarding one dimension of an AICO mapping, i.e. the Hamming distancesand squared Euclidean distances of modulations symbols in each row orcolumn of the two dimensional, complex signal space. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that this is done for simplicity. These distanceproperties can easily be extended to the two-dimensional 16-QAM case byadding the Hamming and squared Euclidean distances for each dimensionrespectively. In FIGS. 5 and 6 the variable D is used for normalisationpurposes. Usually if a 16-QAM constellation is employed, the distancesbetween symbols of the constellation are normalised so that the averagepower is equal to 1. Therefore, in this exemplary embodiment, D would beequal to 1/10.

The table below shows the distance profiles for a single version Grayand AICO mapping (including a distance of zero for the trivial case ofthe distance between a symbol and itself).

Gray Mapping: AICO Mapping: Hamming Frequency × Squared Frequency ×Squared Distance Euclidean Distance Euclidean Distance 0 16 × 0D 16 × 0D1 48 × 4D, 16 × 36D 32 × 4D, 32 × 16D 2 36 × 8D, 32 × 16D, 16 × 4D, 16 ×8D, 32 × 20D, 24 × 40D, 4 × 72D 16 × 32D, 16 × 36D 3 48 × 20D, 16 × 52D16 × 8D, 16 × 20D, 16 × 40D, 16 × 52D 4 16 × 32D 4 × 8D, 8 × 40D, 4 ×72D

The frequency of occurrence of the squared Euclidean distance(s) for apair of symbols having a particular Hamming distance is counted andsummed up for all symbols of the 16-QAM constellation. Therefore thecase of Hamming distance zero occurs 16 times, as there are 16 distinctsymbols in a 16-QAM constellation.

When employing the constellation rearrangement scheme for Gray Mapping(as introduced in the beginning of the present application) to transmittwo versions, distances from both versions are combined for each pair ofsymbols. For example in the table above it can be recognized that twosymbols with a Hamming distance of 1 may have a Squared EuclideanDistance of either 4D or 36D for Gray Mapping. Since both versionsemploy Gray mapping, this is true for the first and the second version,therefore a combined distance of either 8D (=4D+4D), 40D(=4D+36D=36D+4D), or 72D (=36D+36D) is possible. However closerinspection of the constellation rearrangement concept for Gray mappingreveals that only the combined distances of either 8D or 40D arepossible using two versions. Overall, a combining of distances from bothversions for all pairs of symbols results in the distance propertiesgiven in the table below.

Gray Mapping Hamming Frequency × Squared Distance Euclidean Distance 016 × 0D 1 32 × 8D, 32 × 40D 2 16 × 16D, 32 × 32D, 32 × 48D, 16 × 80D 332 × 40D, 32 × 72D 4 16 × 64D

From the table above it can be recognized that after using theconstellation rearrangement scheme for Gray mapping there is nounambiguous distribution of the distances, since for a given HammingDistance there may be several resulting Squared Euclidean Distances.However when using AICO mapping, as will be illustrated below, anunambiguous distribution of the distances is possible when combining twoversions of AICO constellations using the following set of constellationrearrangement rules:

-   1. A modulation symbol of the 16-QAM constellation that has two    nearest neighbors in the first version is rearranged such that it    has four nearest neighbors in the second version-   2. A modulation symbol of the 16-QAM constellation that has three    nearest neighbors in the first version is rearranged such that it    has three nearest neighbors in the second version-   3. A modulation symbol of the 16-QAM constellation that has four    nearest neighbors in the first version is rearranged such that it    has two nearest neighbors in the second version

These rearrangement rules may alternatively be defined as follows:

-   1. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 1    -   a) and a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 16D in the second version    -   b) and a squared Euclidean distance of 16D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the second version-   2. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 2    -   a) and a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 36D in the second version    -   b) and a squared Euclidean distance of 36D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 4D in the second version    -   c) and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 32D in the second version    -   d) and a squared Euclidean distance of 32D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the second version    -   e) and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D In the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the second version-   3. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 3    -   a) and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 52D in the second version    -   b) and a squared Euclidean distance of 52D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the second version    -   c) and a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the second version    -   d) and a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 20D in the second version-   4. Two modulation symbols that have a Hamming distance of 4    -   a) and a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 72D in the second version    -   b) and a squared Euclidean distance of 72D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 8D in the second version    -   c) and a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the first version        have a squared Euclidean distance of 40D in the second version

In this document, two versions of AICO (or Gray) mappings that relate toeach other according to the above rules will be referred to as AICO (orGray) diversity arrangement mappings or versions. The graphicalrepresentation of how the symbols are rearranged according to the aboverules in the diversity arrangement versions will be referred to as“rearrangement patterns”.

An exemplary rearrangement pattern proposed according to an embodimentof the invention may be such that two signal points exchange theirpositions between first and second version, as for example shown in FIG.17. It should be noted that in FIG. 17 four modulation symbols keeptheir positions in the rearranged constellation, i.e. exchange theirpositions with themselves. Alternatively, in another embodiment of theinvention, the rearrangement pattern may be directional as shown in FIG.18.

When using two diversity arrangement versions of AICO 16-CLAMconstellations for the first and the second transmission adhering to therearrangement rules defined above, it can be noted that due to theantipodal property of the constellations, the rearrangement patterns aresymmetric to the origin.

Examples for rearranged constellation versions of the AICO mappingsaccording to the rules defined above are shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20,which illustrate a rearranged version of the AICO constellations shownin FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 respectively. Therefore FIG. 7 and FIG. 19represent two diversity arrangement versions, as well as FIG. 8 and FIG.20.

From the set of rearrangement rules above, eight different possiblerearrangement patterns have been found by computer-aided search. Thesepatterns are given in FIG. 23 to FIG. 30. It may be noted that FIGS. 17and 18 are equivalent to the FIGS. 28 and 27 respectively. In FIG. 23 toFIG. 30 the arrows indicate which data word corresponding to a symbol inthe first version of the AICO 16-QAM constellation is identifying whichsymbol of the AICO 16-QAM constellation in the second, rearrangedversion. Each of these eight exemplary solutions fulfils therequirements on the rearrangement properties defined above. From aperformance point of view, these eight solutions are thereforeequivalent.

The result of combining the distances of two diversity arrangementversions for two Gray versions and for two AICO versions are summarisedin the table below.

Gray Mapping AICO Mapping Hamming Frequency × Squared Frequency ×Squared Distance Euclidean Distance Euclidean Distance 0 16 × 0D 16 × 0D1 32 × 8D, 32 × 40D 64 × 20D 2 16 × 16D, 32 × 32D, 32 × 48D, 16 × 96 ×40D 80D 3 32 × 40D, 32 × 72D 64 × 60D 4 16 × 64D 16 × 80D

The table above illustrates the frequency of occurrence of the squaredEuclidean distance(s) for a pair of symbols having a particular Hammingdistance in the first and second constellation versions, counted andsummed up for all points of the 16-QAM constellation.

The merit of the proposed structure has been proven by numerical MonteCarlo simulations. The simulation result shown in FIG. 21 illustrates acomparison of the bit-error rate performance for an uncoded signal inand AWGN environment using Gray mapping and AICO mapping when employingtwo transmission of a data word with different constellations,respectively. The results shown in this figure has been obtained by avery simple single-stage LLR-calculator for each bit of a modulationsymbol, and subsequent combining of the LLRs for the corresponding bitsin diversity transmission/reception, followed by a hard decisiondepending on the sign of the resultant combined LLR.

FIG. 22 shows a simplified block diagram of a transmitting apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the invention using transmit antennadiversity together with the AICO constellation rearrangement schemeproposed above. Each 4-bit word is used as input to two distinctdiversity branches, which may (optionally) employ independent wordinterleaving over a block of several 4-bit words. Subsequently they aremapped onto complex symbols employing two different AICO mappings, whichshow a relation as outlined in the previous sections. Each of thesesignals is then forwarded to the transmit antenna structures.

It is to be noted that the invention may be employed with any type ofdiversity scheme. Another exemplary transmitter structure and receiverstructure according to embodiments of the invention will be described inthe following in more detail.

FIG. 31 shows a transmitting apparatus 3101 and a receiving apparatus3110 according to one embodiment of the invention. In the transmittingapparatus 3101, an input data stream is provided from a higher layer.The input data stream may for example be voice from an ongoing voicecommunication or any type of data communication. Optionally, the inputdata stream may be encoded in an encoder 3102 employing forward errorcorrection. For example, the encoder 3102 may be a convolutionalencoder, a turbo encoder, or block encoder.

Optionally, the input data stream may be split into two diversitybranches prior to being provided to interleavers 3103 and 3104 whichinterleave the respective streams independent from each other oremploying the same interleaving scheme. The interleavers 3103 and 3104output to a 16-QAM mapping means 3105 and 3106 respectively, in whichthe data bits of the streams are mapped to one of the 16 modulationsymbols in units of four bits (quadruples). As explained above, the16-QAM mapping means 3105 and 3106 use a first and a second, rearrangedAICO 16-QAM constellation (diversity arrangement mappings) as describedabove, where the second constellation version is a rearranged version ofthe first constellation version adhering to the rearrangement rulesdescribed previously herein.

For exemplary purposes, a frequency diversity scheme is employed in theembodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 31. Therefore, the sections3107 and 3108 map the modulation symbols output by 16-QAM mapping means3105 and 3106 to distinct carrier frequencies f_(i) and f_(j),respectively. The modulated signal is provided to a transmitter 3109which transmits the signals to the receiving apparatus 3110.

In another embodiment of the invention, more than two versions may beemployed for the transmit diversity. For example, the data may betransmitted using three versions, where the first version and the secondversion are AICO diversity arrangement mappings, and the third versiondoes not have a special relation to the first or second versions used. Afourth version may then form together with the third versions two newAICO diversity arrangement versions. However the relation (i.e. therearrangement pattern) between third and fourth version may be differentfrom the relation between first and second version.

For example, the rearrangement pattern between first and second versionmay be bidirectional, but the rearrangement pattern between third andfourth version may be unidirectional. Even if both patterns show thesame “directionality”, they may differ in their details.

Example distance statistics for a diversity transmission employing fourGray constellation mappings and four AICO constellation versions asdescribed above are shown in the table below.

Gray Mapping AICO Mapping Hamming Frequency × Squared Frequency ×Squared Distance Euclidean Distance Euclidean Distance 0 16 × 0D 16 × 0D1 64 × 48D 64 × 40D 2 32 × 64D, 64 × 96D 96 × 80D 3 64 × 112D 64 × 120D4 16 × 128D 16 × 160D

In the different distance property tables illustrated in this document,the frequencies of how often certain squared Euclidean distances occurfor different Hamming distances between two modulation symbols have beenlisted. For those, the differences of all signal points to all signalpoints are evaluated. Consequently there exist a total of 16×16=256distance values, which is obtained also by summing all listedfrequencies. Since Hamming distance and squared Euclidean distancebetween a point and itself are both 0, and having a total of 16 distinctmodulation symbols within the constellation, the value Euclideandistance and Hamming distance of 0 is obtained exactly 16 times.Similarly the sum of frequencies is always 64 for a Hamming distance of1, is always 96 for a Hamming distance of 2, is always 96 for a Hammingdistance of 3, and is always 16 for a Hamming distance of 4.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the descriptionso far referred to real and imaginary axes of AICO mapping for arepresentation of a 16-QAM constellation as in shown in FIG. 1. In caseof considering a rotated constellation as for example shown in FIG. 2,the orthogonal axes would have to be likewise rotated, in particular theterms “rows” and “columns” as they have been used so far would have tobe interpreted as rotated “rows” and “columns” respectively.

Returning now to FIG. 31, receiving apparatus structure will now bedescribed in further detail. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the receiver 3111 of the receiving apparatus 3110 receivesthe signals transmitted by the transmitting apparatus 3101 atfrequencies f_(i) and f_(j) respectively. The received signals areoutput to demodulators 3112 and 3113 respectively, which detect theindividual modulation symbols in the respective signal. In other words,the demodulators associate the different diversity branches transmittedat distinct frequencies according to the first 16-QAM constellation andsecond rearranged 16-QAM constellation used by the transmittingapparatus 3101. Obviously, the receiving apparatus 3110 needs to be madeaware of or is aware of the symbol mappings used by the transmittingapparatus in order to be able to reverse the mapping of modulation bitsto data words (bit quadruples).

The demodulators 3112 and 3113 also associate each bit of the data wordswith a metric allowing reconstructing the logical value of theindividual data bits of the received data words. The content of thismetric for each data bit in the data words depends on the decodingstrategy used, as will be elaborated on further down below. Thedemodulators 3112 and 3113 may be further aware of or may be made awareof the interleaving scheme used by the interleavers 3103 and 3104 at thetransmitting apparatus 3101 (e.g. by predefining the interleavingpattern(s) or by means of control signaling). The data words, themetrics of the individual data bits as is provided to the data bitstream reconstruction means 3114, which combines the data bit pairs fromthe two diversity branches based on the metrics associated to theindividual bits of the two diversity branches.

If the input data bit stream has been encoded on the transmission side,the receiving apparatus 3110 further comprises a decoder 3115 to decodethe data stream provided by the data bit stream reconstruction means3114.

It should be noted that the structure of the individual components ofthe receiving apparatus 3110 will depend on the demodulation/decodingscheme employed at the individual receiving apparatus 3110. Importantfor the correct reconstruction of the original input data bit streamtransmitted by the transmitting apparatus is that the receivingapparatus 3110 is able to provide a reverse mapping of the modulationsymbols to data words, to associate the data bits or each of the datawords of the different diversity branches.

Depending on the receiver apparatus strategy, the metrics associated tothe individual bits in the data words may have different contents of themetric. For example, if the decoding is performed using soft-values, themetric may indicate a probability value or probability values indicatingthe probability of whether an individual data bit has a logical value of−1 or 1. For this purpose, the metric may be for example a loglikelihood ratio (LLR) which is defined by

${{L\; L\;{R\left( x_{i} \right)}} = {\log\frac{p\left( {x_{i} = 1} \right)}{p\left( {x_{i} = 0} \right)}}},$wherein p(x_(i)=1) is the probability that the bit x_(i) is equal to thelogical value of 1 and p(x_(i)=0) is the probability that the bit x_(i)is equal to the logical value of −1. Thus, the sign of the LLR directlyindicates the logical value of the bit x_(i) and the absolute value ofthe LLR indicates the certainty of the decision. When working with LLRsat a receiving apparatus, the reconstructed data bit may bereconstructed from a data bit pair (data bit and its repetitionaccording to the two diversity branches)—for example—by simply addingthe of the data bits of the data bit pair, and the logical value of thereconstructed data bit may be decided based on the sign of the sum ofthe LLRs.

FIG. 32 illustrates the reconstruction of the data bit streams r^(i) ₁,r^(i) ₂, r^(i) ₃, r^(i) ₄, . . . and r^(j) ₁, r^(j) ₂, r^(j) ₃, r^(j) ₄,. . . from the received signals at frequencies f_(i) and f_(j). Thestreams may be represented by their inphase and quadrature componentsI_(i) and Q_(i) and I_(j) and Q_(j) measured for the symbol (I_(i),Q_(i)) and (I_(j), Q_(j)) respectively. Each of the symbols (I_(i),Q_(i)) and (I_(j), Q_(j)) is mapped to a quadruple of bits x₁ ^(i), x₂^(i), x₃ ^(i), x₄ ^(i) or x₁ ^(j), x₂ ^(j) x₃ ^(j), x₄ ^(j) respectivelyusing the first version of the AICO 16-QAM constellation and itsrearranged second version indicating the corresponding quadruple of bitsfor each symbol (I_(i), Q_(i)) and (I_(j), Q_(j)). Based on the actualvalues of the symbol components (I_(i), Q_(i)) and (I_(j), Q_(j)) andthe resulting (squared Euclidian) distance(s) to modulation symbols inthe 16-QAM constellation, each of the bits x₁ ^(i), x₂ ^(i) x₃ ^(i), x₄^(i) and x₁ ^(j), x₂ ^(j) x₃ ^(j), x₄ ^(j) can be associated with aLLR—LLR(x₁ ^(i)), LLR (x₂ ^(i)), LLR (x₃ ^(i)), LLR (x₄ ^(i)) and LLR(x₁ ^(j)), LLR (x₂ ^(j)), LLR (x₃ ^(j)), LLR (x₄ ^(j))—that indicatesthe certainty of the respective bit being equivalent to the logicalvalue of −1 or 1. Next the bit streams formed by successive quadruplesx₁ ^(i), x₂ ^(i) x₃ ^(i), x₄ ^(i) and x₁ ^(j), x₂ ^(j) x₃ ^(j), x₄ ^(j)may be de-interleaved and the data bits in the streams belongingtogether are detected. Next, the reconstructed data bit stream r₁, r₂,r₃, r₄ may be built by combining the LLRs of the associated data bits(bit pairs).

When working with hard decisions at the receiving apparatus 3110 themetric may directly indicate the logical value of the respective databit. Also in this case the combination of data bit pairs forreconstructing the (transmitted) data bit stream may simply add themetrics of the data bits of the bit pair. Also a combination with theuse of soft decisions may be possible, i.e. before summing the logicalvalues of the data bits of the data bit pair, same may be weighted usinga probability value indicating the certainty in detecting the respectivelogical value.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to theimplementation of the above described various embodiments using hardwareand software. It is recognized that the various above mentioned methodsas well as the various logical blocks, modules, or circuits describedabove may be implemented or performed using computing devices, as forexample general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP),application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gatearrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, etc. The variousembodiments of the present invention may also be performed or embodiedby a combination of these devices.

Further, the various embodiments of the present invention may also beimplemented by means of software modules which are executed by aprocessor or directly in hardware. Also a combination of softwaremodules and a hardware implementation may be possible. The softwaremodules may be stored on any kind of computer readable storage media,for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks,CD-ROM, DVD, etc.

1. A method for transmitting a data bit stream using a first 16-QAMconstellation and a second 16-QAM constellation, the method comprisingthe steps of: forming a sequence of data words from the bit stream, eachdata word comprising four bits, mapping each data word to a modulationsymbol using the first 16-QAM constellation to generate a firstarrangement pattern of modulation symbols, mapping each data word to amodulation symbol using the second 16-QAM constellation to generate asecond arrangement pattern of modulation symbols, and transmitting thefirst arrangement pattern of modulation symbols and the secondarrangement pattern of modulation symbols according to a transmitdiversity scheme, wherein the second arrangement pattern of modulationsymbols is obtained by rearranging the first arrangement pattern ofmodulation symbols according to the rearrangement rules of FIG. 24:wherein the differently dashed arrows indicate the rearrangement of adata word corresponding to a modulation symbol in the first 16-QAMconstellation and the same data word corresponding to a modulationsymbol in the second, rearranged 16-QAM constellation, wherein themodulation symbol in the first 16-QAM constellation is indicated by thestart of an arrow line and the modulation symbol in the second,rearranged 16-QAM constellation is indicated by the end of the arrowheadof the same arrow, and wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellationand the second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulation symbolsrepresentable in four rows and four columns in a complex coordinateplane, and each modulation symbol of the first and second 16-QAMconstellations represents a combination of four bits, wherein each ofthe first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellation obeysthe following mapping rules: a first one of the four bits representingthe modulation symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions ofthe 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the twocontiguous symbol regions comprising two columns adjacent to each other,a second one of the four bits representing the respective modulationsymbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAMconstellation based on its logical value, each of the two contiguoussymbol regions comprising two rows adjacent to each other, a third oneof the four bits representing the respective modulation symbol selectsone of two non-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellationbased on its logical value, each of the two non-contiguous symbolregions comprising two columns not adjacent to each other, and a fourthone of the four bits representing the respective modulation symbolselects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAMconstellation based on its logical value, each of the two non-contiguoussymbol regions comprising two rows not adjacent to each other.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein each of the first 16-QAMconstellation and the second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulationsymbols representable in four rows and four columns in a complexcoordinate plane, and each modulation symbol of the first and second16-QAM constellations represents a combination of four bits, wherein themodulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellation and themodulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellation areidentified by a column index iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the column out ofthe four columns inl which the modulation symbol is located from left toright and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out of the fourrows in which the modulation symbol is located from top to bottom, andwherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellationare rearranged to modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAMconstellation as follows: a_(0,0)→b_(2,2), a_(0,1)→b_(2,0),a_(0,2)→b_(2,3), a_(0,3)→b_(2,1) a_(1,0)→b_(0,2), a_(1,1)→b_(0,0),a_(1,2)→b_(0,3), a_(1,3)→b_(0,1) a_(2,0)→b_(3,2), a_(2,1)→b_(3,0),a_(2,2)→b_(3,3), a_(2,3)→b_(3,1) a_(3,0)→b_(1,2), a_(3,1)→b_(1,0),a_(3,2)→b_(1,2), a_(3,3)→b_(1,1).
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAMconstellation has 16 modulation symbols representable in four rows andfour columns in a complex coordinate plane, and each modulation symbolof the first and second 16-QAM constellations represents a combinationof four bits, wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAMconstellation and the modulation symbols b_(i,j) the second 16-QAMconstellation is identified by a column index iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicatingthe column out of the four columns in which the modulation symbol islocated from left to right and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating therow out of the four rows in which the modulation symbol is located fromtop to bottom, and wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first16-QAM constellation are rearranged to modulation symbols b_(i′,j′) ofthe second 16-QAM constellation as follows:a_(i,j)→b_(i′,j′), wherein i→i′ 0→2 1→0 2→3 3→1 and j→j′ 0→2 1→0 2→33→1.
 4. A method for receiving a data bit stream using a first 16-QAMconstellation and a second 16-QAM constellation, the method comprisingthe steps of: receiving a transmission signal comprising data words ofthe data bit stream having been transmitted using the first 16-QAMconstellation, receiving a transmission signal comprising said datawords having been transmitted using the second 16-QAM constellation,demodulating the transmission signal by detecting modulation symbolsrepresented by data words of four data bits using the first 16-QAMconstellation and the second 16-QAM constellation respectively, therebyassociating each data bit of a received modulation symbol with a metricindicating the probability of the logical value of the respective bit ofthe received modulation symbol or indicating the logical value of therespective bit of the received modulation symbol, combining each databit having been mapped to the first 16-QAM constellation with itsassociated data bit having been mapped to the second 16-QAMconstellation, wherein the association of data bits within the receivedmodulation symbols is based on the association rules of FIG. 24: whereinthe differently dashed arrows indicate the rearrangement of a data wordcorresponding to a modulation symbol in the first 16-QAM constellationand the same data word corresponding to a modulation symbol in thesecond, rearranged 16-QAM constellation, wherein the modulation symbolin the first 16-QAM constellation is indicated by the start of an arrowline and the modulation symbol in the second, rearranged 16-QAMconstellation is indicated by the end of the arrowhead of the samearrow, and wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation and the second16-QAM constellation has 16 modulation symbols representable in fourrows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane, and each modulationsymbol of the first and second 16-QAM constellations represents acombination of four bits, wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellationand the second 16-QAM constellation obeys the following mapping rules: afirst one of the four bits representing the modulation symbol selectsone of two contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation basedon its logical value, each of the two contiguous symbol regionscomprising comprises two columns adjacent to each other, a second one ofthe four bits representing the respective modulation symbol selects oneof two contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based onits logical value, each of the two contiguous symbol regions comprisingtwo rows adjacent to each other, a third one of the four bitsrepresenting the respective modulation symbol selects one of twonon-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on itslogical value, each of the two non-contiguous symbol regions comprisingtwo columns not adjacent to each other, and a fourth one of the fourbits representing the respective modulation symbol selects one of twonon-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on itslogical value, each of the two non-contiguous symbol regions comprisingtwo rows not adjacent to each other.
 5. The method according to claim 4,further comprising the step of associating each data bit of the receivedmodulation symbols that has been mapped by the transmitting apparatus tothe first 16-QAM constellation to a data bit of the received modulationsymbols that has been mapped by the transmitting apparatus to the second16-QAM constellation, wherein in the step of combining each data bithaving been mapped to the first 16-QAM constellation is combined withits associated data bit having been mapped to the second 16-QAMconstellation based on the metric of the respective data bit and themetric of the associated data bit to reconstruct the data bit stream. 6.The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein each of the first 16-QAMconstellation and the second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulationsymbols representable in four rows and four columns in a complexcoordinate plane, and each modulation symbol of the first and second16-QAM constellations represents a combination of four bits, wherein themodulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellation and themodulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellation areidentified by a column index iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the column out ofthe four columns in which the modulation symbol is located from left toright and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out of the fourrows in which the modulation symbol is located from top to bottom, andwherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellationare rearranged to of modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAMconstellation as follows: a_(0,0)→b_(2,2), a_(0,1)→b_(2,0),a_(0,2)→b_(2,3), a_(0,3)→b_(2,1) a_(1,0)→b_(0,2), a_(1,1)→b_(0,0),a_(1,2)→b_(0,3), a_(1,3)→b_(0,1) a_(2,0)→b_(3,2), a_(2,1)→b_(3,0),a_(2,2)→b_(3,3), a_(2,3)→b_(3,1) a_(3,0)→b_(1,2), a_(3,1)→b_(1,0),a_(3,2)→b_(1,3), a_(3,3)→b_(1,1).
 7. The method according to claim 4 or5, wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAMconstellation has 16 modulation symbols representable in four rows andfour columns in a complex coordinate plane, and each modulation symbolof the first and second 16-QAM constellations represents a combinationof four bits, wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAMconstellation and the modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAMconstellation is identified by a column index iε{°0, 1, 2, 3} indicatingthe column out of the four columns in which the modulation symbol islocated from left to right and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating therow out of the four rows in which the modulation symbol is located fromtop to bottom, and wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first16-QAM constellation are rearranged to modulation symbols b_(i′,j′) ofthe second 16-QAM constellation as follows:a_(i,j)→b_(i′,j′), wherein i→i′ 0→2 1→0 2→3 3→1 and j→j′ 0→2 1→0 2→33→1.
 8. A transmission apparatus for transmitting a data bit streamusing a first 16-QAM constellation and a second 16-QAM constellation,the transmission apparatus comprising: a processing unit configured toform a sequence of data words from the data bit stream, each data wordcomprising four bits, a first symbol mapper configured to map each dataword to a modulation symbol using the first 16-QAM constellation togenerate a first arrangement pattern of modulation symbols, a secondsymbol mapper configured to map each data word to a modulation symbolusing the second 16-QAM constellation to generate a second arrangementpattern of modulation symbols, and a transmitter configured to transmitthe first arrangement pattern of modulation symbols and the secondarrangement pattern of modulation symbols according to a transmitdiversity scheme, wherein the second arrangement pattern of modulationsymbols is obtained by rearranging the first arrangement pattern ofmodulation symbols according to the rearrangement rules of FIG. 24:wherein the differently dashed arrows indicate the rearrangement of adata word corresponding to a modulation symbol in the first 16-QAMconstellation and the same data word corresponding to a modulationsymbol in the second, rearranged 16-QAM constellation, wherein themodulation symbol in the first 16-QAM constellation is indicated by thestart of an arrow line and the modulation symbol in the second,rearranged 16-QAM constellation is indicated by the end of the arrowheadof the same arrow, and wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellationand the second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulation symbolsrepresentable in four rows and four columns in a complex coordinateplane, and each modulation symbol of the first and second 16-QAMconstellations represents a combination of four bits, wherein each ofthe first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellation obeysthe following mapping rules: a first one of the four bits representingthe modulation symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions ofthe 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the twocontiguous symbol regions comprising comprises two columns adjacent toeach other, a second one of the four bits representing the respectivemodulation symbol selects one of two contiguous symbol regions of the16-QAM constellation based on its logical value, each of the twocontiguous symbol regions comprising two rows adjacent to each other, athird one of the four bits representing the respective modulation symbolselects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAMconstellation based on its logical value, each of the two non-contiguoussymbol regions comprising two columns not adjacent to each other, and afourth one of the four bits representing the respective modulationsymbol selects one of two non-contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAMconstellation based on its logical value, each of the two non-contiguoussymbol regions comprising two rows not adjacent to each other.
 9. Thetransmission apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each of the first16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellation has 16modulation symbols representable in four rows and four columns in acomplex coordinate plane, and each modulation symbol of the first andsecond 16-QAM constellations represents a combination of four bits,wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellationand the modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellationare identified by a column index iγ{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the columnout of the four columns in which the modulation symbol is located fromleft to right and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out ofthe four rows in which the modulation symbol is located from top tobottom, and wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAMconstellation are rearranged to modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second16-QAM constellation as follows: a_(0,0)→b_(2,2), a_(0,1)→b_(2,0),a_(0,2)→b_(2,3), a_(0,3)→b_(2,1) a_(1,0)→b_(0,2), a_(1,1)→b_(0,0),a_(1,2)→b_(0,3), a_(1,3)→b_(0,1) a_(2,0)→b_(3,2), a_(2,1)→b_(3,0),a_(2,2)→b_(3,3), a_(2,3)→b_(3,1) a_(3,0)→b_(1,2), a_(3,1)→b_(1,0),a_(3,2)→b_(1,2), a_(3,3)→b_(1,1).
 10. The transmission apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation andthe second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulation symbols representablein four rows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane, and eachmodulation symbol of the first and second 16-QAM constellationsrepresents a combination of four bits, wherein the modulation symbolsa_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellation and the modulation symbolsb_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellation is identified by a columnindex iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the column out of the four columns inwhich the modulation symbol is located from left to right and a rowindex jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out of the four rows in whichthe modulation symbol is located from top to bottom, and wherein themodulation symbols in in the first 16-QAM constellation are rearrangedto modulation symbols b_(i′,j′) of the second 16-QAM constellation asfollows:a_(i,j)→b_(i′,j′), wherein i→i′ 0→2 1→0 2→3 3→1 and j→j′ 0→2 1→0 2→33→1.
 11. A reception apparatus for receiving a data bit stream using afirst 16-QAM constellation and a second 16-QAM constellation, thereception apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive atransmission signal comprising data words of the data bit stream havingbeen transmitted using the first 16-QAM constellation, and to receive atransmission signal comprising said data words having been transmittedusing the second 16-QAM constellation, a demodulation unit configured todemodulate the transmission signal by detecting modulation symbolsrepresented by data words of four data bits using the first 16-QAMconstellation and the second 16-QAM constellation respectively, therebyassociating each data bit of a received modulation symbol with a metricindicating the probability of the logical value of the respective bit ofthe received modulation symbol or indicating the logical value of therespective bit of the received modulation symbol, a data bit streamreconstruction unit configured to combine each data bit having beenmapped to the first 16-QAM constellation with its associated data bithaving been mapped to the second 16-QAM constellation, wherein theassociation of data bits within the received modulation symbols is basedon the association rules of FIG. 24: wherein the differently dashedarrows indicate the rearrangement of a data word corresponding to amodulation symbol in the first 16-QAM constellation and the same dataword corresponding to a modulation symbol in the second, rearranged16-QAM constellation, wherein the modulation symbol in the first 16-QAMconstellation is indicated by the start of an arrow line and themodulation symbol in the second, rearranged 16-QAM constellation isindicated by the end of the arrowhead of the same arrow, and whereineach of the first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAMconstellation has 16 modulation symbols representable in four rows andfour columns in a complex coordinate plane, and each modulation symbolof the first and second 16-QAM constellations represents a combinationof four bits, wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation and thesecond 16-QAM constellation obeys the following mapping rules: a firstone of the four bits representing the modulation symbol selects one oftwo contiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on itslogical value, each of the two contiguous symbol regions comprising twocolumns adjacent to each other, a second one of the four bitsrepresenting the respective modulation symbol selects one of twocontiguous symbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on itslogical value, each of the two contiguous symbol regions comprising tworows adjacent to each other, a third one of the four bits representingthe respective modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguoussymbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value,each of the two non-contiguous symbol regions comprising two columns notadjacent to each other, and a fourth one of the four bits representingthe respective modulation symbol selects one of two non-contiguoussymbol regions of the 16-QAM constellation based on its logical value,each of the two non-contiguous symbol regions comprising two rows notadjacent to each other, each modulation symbol in the first arrangementpattern having two nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAM constellationis associated to a modulation symbol in the second 16-QAM constellationhaving four nearest neighbors, each modulation symbol in the firstarrangement pattern having three nearest neighbors in the first 16-QAMconstellation is associated to a modulation symbol in the second 16-QAMconstellation having three nearest neighbors, and each modulation symbolin the first arrangement pattern having four nearest neighbors in thefirst 16-QAM constellation is associated to a modulation symbol in thesecond 16-QAM constellation having two nearest neighbors.
 12. Thereception apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the data bit streamreconstruction unit is configured to associate each data bit of thereceived modulation symbols that has been mapped by the transmittingapparatus to the first 16-QAM constellation to a data bit of thereceived modulation symbols that has been mapped by the transmittingapparatus to the second 16-QAM constellation, wherein the data bitstream reconstruction unit is further configured to combine each databit having been mapped to the first 16-QAM constellation with itsassociated data bit having been mapped to the second 16-QAMconstellation based on the metric of the respective data bit and themetric of the associated data bit to reconstruct the data bit stream.13. The reception apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein each ofthe first 16-QAM constellation and the second 16-QAM constellation has16 modulation symbols representable in four rows and four columns in acomplex coordinate plane, and each modulation symbol of the first andsecond 16-QAM constellations represents a combination of four bits,wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellationand the modulation symbols b_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellationare identified by a column index iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the columnout of the four columns in which the modulation symbol is located fromleft to right and a row index jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out ofthe four rows in which the modulation symbol is located from top tobottom, and wherein the modulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAMconstellation are rearranged to of modulation symbols b_(i,j) the second16-QAM constellation as follows: a_(0,0)→b_(2,2), a_(0,1)→b_(2,0),a_(0,2)→b_(2,3), a_(0,3)→b_(2,1) a_(1,0)→b_(0,2), a_(1,1)→b_(0,0),a_(1,2)→b_(0,3), a_(1,3)→b_(0,1) a_(2,0)→b_(3,2), a_(2,1)→b_(3,0),a_(2,2)→b_(3,3), a_(2,3)→b_(3,1) a_(3,0)→b_(1,2), a_(3,1)→b_(1,0),a_(3,2)→b_(1,2), a_(3,3)→b_(1,1).
 14. The reception apparatus accordingto claim 11 or 12, wherein each of the first 16-QAM constellation andthe second 16-QAM constellation has 16 modulation symbols representablein four rows and four columns in a complex coordinate plane, and eachmodulation symbol of the first and second 16-QAM constellationsrepresents a combination of four bits, wherein the modulation symbolsa_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellation and the modulation symbolsb_(i,j) of the second 16-QAM constellation is identified by a columnindex iε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the column out of the four columns inwhich the modulation symbol is located from left to right and a rowindex jε{0, 1, 2, 3} indicating the row out of the four rows in whichthe modulation symbol is located from top to bottom, and wherein themodulation symbols a_(i,j) in the first 16-QAM constellation arerearranged to modulation symbols b_(i′,j′) of the second 16-QAMconstellation as follows:a_(i,j)→b_(i′,j′), wherein i→i′ 0→2 1→0 2→3 3→1 and j→j′ 0→2 1→0 2→33→1.